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Benazir Bhutto starts campaign

Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto arrived in northwestern Pakistan yesterday to launch her election campaign, a day after unveiling her party's platform despite calls from other opposition groups to boycott the Jan. 8 vote.

Bhutto traveled in a bullet-proof black Mercedes under police escort from the capital, Islamabad, to Peshawar and was greeted by hundreds of flag-waving supporters of her Pakistan People's Party who chanted "Long Live Benazir!"

She will meet with party leaders to discuss how to ensure the success of their candidates, party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.

"This visit to Peshawar kickstarts her election campaign," Babar said.

Bhutto, a two-time prime minister whose return to Pakistan from exile in October was targeted by suicide bombers, is the first major political leader to launch a campaign since Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf quit his army post and became a civilian leader last week.

But party officials remained guarded about details of her trip to Peshawar, a stronghold of Islamic groups near the Afghan border, about 160km west of Islamabad.

Her first stop was at the home of a party activist to express condolences over the recent death of his father.

Dozens of police, some with metal detectors, guarded the area and commandos with rifles were positioned on rooftops.

Under pressure from the US and domestic opposition parties, Musharraf says he is trying to engineer a transition to democracy, eight years after he seized power in a coup, but remains deeply unpopular in Pakistan.

He has urged political parties to fully participate in the vote, but former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, leader of a key opposition coalition, says he intends to boycott the elections unless Musharraf reinstates judges he ousted on Nov. 3 when he declared a state of emergency.

Bhutto says she would only boycott the vote if all opposition parties do the same.

But by unveiling her party's policies on Friday and now starting her campaign she has signaled an intent to participate.

Her campaign platform promises more money for education, health and environmental protection and cheap loans to help small businesses create jobs.

Musharraf -- who was sworn in Thursday for a new five-year presidential term -- has announced he intends to lift the state of emergency by Dec. 16 and restore the constitution before the elections.

However, he has said that the deposed judges -- who were thrown out as they were about to issue a ruling that could have derailed his new term -- will not be reinstated.
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